Sans Bois County, Choctaw Nation facts for kids

Sans Bois County was a special area in the Choctaw Nation. This was before Oklahoma became a state. It was part of a bigger region called the Moshulatubbee District. This district was one of three main parts of the Nation.

What Was Sans Bois County?

The county was also called Sambai Kaunti. This name came from a French phrase, sans bois. This means "without wood." The county got its name from an important stream, Sans Bois Creek. French traders or trappers named the creek in the 1700s. The Choctaw people pronounced the French phrase "Sambai."

Sans Bois County did not have any large towns. Its main features were the creek and the mountains it flowed from. These mountains are still known as the Sans Bois Mountains. People mostly settled in the valleys and lowlands. Farming was the main activity there. Later, mining became popular in the mountains. This happened mostly in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

How Sans Bois County Was Formed

Sans Bois County was one of the first 19 counties. The General Council of the Choctaw Nation created them in 1850. The county's borders were set using easy-to-spot natural landmarks. All Choctaw Nation counties had borders like this.

The county started at Cashier Creek where it met the Arkansas River. It went up the Arkansas River to the Canadian River. Then it went up the Canadian River to Longtown Creek. From there, the border followed the stream to its start. Then it went south to the beginning of Sans Bois Creek. After that, it went to the start of Bayouzeal. Finally, it followed Bayouzeal to the Sugar Loaf County border.

How It Was Governed

The county was used for elections. People voted for members of the National Council there. It also worked as a local government area. Voters elected officers for two-year terms. These officers included the county judge, sheriff, and a ranger.

The judge made sure the county was run well. The sheriff collected taxes. They also watched for people who did not belong there. These were usually white Americans from the United States. The sheriff also counted the people living in the county. The county ranger would advertise and sell lost farm animals.

Becoming Part of Oklahoma

When Oklahoma was about to become a state, leaders met to plan the new state's counties. They realized the Choctaw Nation's counties, while well-designed, would not work as new counties. Most county seats were just for court. They were not big towns. This was true for Sans Bois County, which had few people.

Leaders of the proposed State of Sequoyah also saw this problem. They met in 1905 to suggest statehood for the Indian Territory. The Sequoyah Constitutional Convention also suggested new counties. These plans would get rid of the old Choctaw counties. Sans Bois County was mostly split into two proposed counties. These were Sans Bois County and Thomas County. Stigler and Bokoshe would have been the main towns in Thomas County. Quinton would have been the largest town in Sans Bois County.

However, Oklahoma's leaders did not use most of these ideas. Two years later, they created a very different county system. The land that was once Sans Bois County now mostly belongs to Haskell County. Small parts are now in Pittsburg, Latimer, and Le Flore counties. Sans Bois County stopped existing when Oklahoma became a state on November 16, 1907.